President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have little if any power to compel states to dial back "stand your ground" laws the two have criticized in the wake of George Zimmerman's acquittal in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

While the Justice Department may review the case and could seek civil rights charges against Zimmerman, experts say the federal government has little recourse with the stand your ground laws themselves.

“There's little the Department of Justice can do," UCLA law professor Adam Winkler told The Hill.

"States are allowed to have their own criminal laws, including self-defense laws,” Winker said. “DOJ may be able to pursue civil rights charges in individual cases, but it has no authority to overturn state laws.”
------
The administration’s options may get a boost from an investigation launched by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in May on the laws in Florida, South Carolina and Michigan.

“We’re just in the data-gathering phase right now,” explained the commission’s staff director, Marlene Sallo.

“Once the data is gathered, then we’ll do an analysis and try to ascertain whether there was possible racial bias as the laws were administered – the stand your ground laws – at the states that we plan on looking at,” she said.
------
Despite long odds, members of the Congressional Black Caucus are drawing up a series of bills in response to Zimmerman’s acquittal, including legislation offering financial incentives to states that repeal stand your ground laws. The legislation faces a tough road forward in the Republican-controlled House.



“They are a menace to Americans in general," Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said of the laws, 

"and especially to African American youths."

http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/legisl...y-to-stand-down-

No, Ms. Holmes, some of the African American youths are a menace to the country. Do you ever watch the eleven o'clock news?